blog: Catch the Bus Month - Rural Routes and Realities
Thursday 26th September 2024
As a village dweller, I’ve watched the demise of our little shop and post office in the past few years, and more recently the quiet disappearance of the weekly mobile post office van. Our nearest services are now 2.5 miles away – a bit too far to walk and there’s no pavement for most of the route so I’d usually jump in the car. However, it’s Catch the Bus Month and I’ve got a parcel to return, so I checked online and downloaded the timetable for my village bus.
We have 3 journeys per day into town, albeit 1 doesn’t come back. Pretty good! So, let’s do some journey planning. I can catch the 1244 service which will get me into town for 1250. Pretty good! I just need to drop the parcel off in the post office, so looking at the return journeys I can either catch the 1300 or the 1500 service. Hmm, now I’m worried that my options are either a 10 minute or 2 hour stay. 10 minutes is cutting it very fine and 2 hours – well I don’t mean to be disparaging about the place but that would be extremely challenging. I just want to run an errand and get back to work. I’m going to wear my trainers just in case I need to jog home.
Raised kerbs were installed just last year, and we have a flag and a timetable case. It’s great to see the investment going in, however the attention to detail hasn’t really flowed through to the rest of the infrastructure, with a very sad looking Midland Red flag and a timetable dated 2010. I can’t help but think there would have been more value for money from an updated timetable than the costly civil works of installing the kerb.
Whilst I’m waiting the local postman asked what I was doing, laughed and then offered me a lift. Ahh the irony. Right on cue the bus turned up, and at 1247 we were on our way.
My journey was excellent. A happy, polite and smart driver with a clean and comfortable yet empty bus, and a contactless transaction for just £1.20 for my single trip. I had expected the £2 flat-fare, so £1.20 was a bonus and actually feels like the right level of price for the length of the journey. Perhaps unsurprisingly I had 37 seats to choose from.
As we pulled up at the stop almost directly opposite the post office, I mentioned to the driver that I was on a challenge and set the stopwatch running to see just how long I needed in town. I thought it was fair to let him know and reassure him I wasn’t some sort of stalker.
Uh-oh! We have a queue in the post office. This is not looking good. I’m third in line, but the guy at the front is struggling to decide if he needs signed for or special delivery. It is tense, I’m frantically checking the stopwatch. Finally, he’s on his way, and the next man is an absolute posting legend so it’s my turn, and, for once, the retailers QR code works and I’m out that door faster than when someone sneezed during lockdown, and at the westbound stop in just under 5 minutes (it felt much longer).
The bus stop infrastructure is another mixed bag. No cage or raised kerbs here, even though it must be a busier stop. Another sad, weather-worn flag and a timetable case, which for some reason has been fastened to the lamp post so high that the information is above eye-level, even for me at 5’10”. The information that is there is really good, both operators have included simplified, route ‘stick map’ diagrams and timings of departures. There’s also info about the app and some fares offers. All good stuff for tall people, definitely not very compliant in terms of accessibility impact though due to the case height.
Bang on time, here’s my bus! I’m still the only customer. It’s a huge shame because operationally it’s a really good product. I feel that it’s let down by some very uncared for and shabby looking infrastructure and information at the roadside, and a fundamentally unsound timetable. If a normal person (not someone who works in transport) walked past these bus stops, they’d probably not notice they were there and if they did, they’d find a 14 year old timetable in the village and just assume the bus disappeared years ago, along with the shop and post office.
Instead of installing raised kerbs (which I would consider a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than essential at a stop with only 3 trips per day), I’d rather have a timetable that provided a link to services that gave me more than 10 minutes in town. If I did have a medical appointment, or even need to pick up a prescription, there is no way I’d be able to achieve this in 10 minutes. It’s a shame that we have 3 journeys every day when there’s no real way of being able to use it to get to anything done. No wonder I’m the only person on the bus today and I usually see it running empty. Surely the timetable could be interworked with another service to give 30 or 40 minutes in town? It could be a really useful service, it just needs some creative thinking. In fact, I’d go as far as saying I’d rather only have a service twice a week rather than daily if the timetable actually allowed me to do something in town and then come back.
Alternatively, perhaps Digital Demand Responsive Transport (DDRT) could solve some of these issues. There are many benefits, challenges, and complexities of designing a fit for purpose DDRT service but it would certainly provide the journey flexibility that is needed for many of these trips.
It was nice to leave the car at home, more stressful for sure but you don’t get a smile like this from your car do you?!
For more information on designing and planning local bus and DDRT services in rural areas, please contact Emma Taylor or get in touch.